The Captain of a Sinking Ship
Several years later.
When I was sixteen, I slammed my head against a tree and remembered my past life. That was the moment I realized this world was the one from the novel I’d read—and that I was already sprinting full-speed toward a ticket for a one-way trip to hell.
“Askal Debré.”
The Empress seated upon the throne called my name.
Julia.
She was the tyrant empress from the novel I’d read. Insanely beautiful, a natural genius in both swordsmanship and magic, yet cursed with a personality so horrific it could make a grown man weep.
She slit the throats of ministers who displeased her and ruled with a tyranny so brutal that even the worst despots would have shed tears of sympathy. Thanks to her, the empire teetered on the brink of collapse.
And in the end, Julia was executed in a rebellion. Along with every loyal servant who had served her—including me.
So, to put it bluntly, Julia was the captain of a ship that was already taking on water, and I needed to abandon this sinking vessel immediately.
“You have served Us most admirably until now. You have made the nation prosperous and brought glory to Our name.”
That’s what she should have said.
I hereby bestow upon you the position of Chancellor. Even after death, when your bones turn to dust, you shall still belong to me.
It was already too late.
How the hell did it come to this?